You Won’t Forget Good King Louis XIV…. And I am now, as I once was a mere 300 years ago, your faithful and dutiful divine-right leader of the world My.

You Won’t Forget Good King Louis XIV…

Do I Really Need a Title Today?

And I am now, as I once was a mere 300 years ago, your faithful and dutiful divine-right leader of the world

My discourse is intoxicating… …as is my love of all that is luxurious, lavish, and sumptuous I am an absolute monarch who believes in absolutism which is absolutely

the best form of government… Since I know all…I rule all…all for the good of France in the Name of the

Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit… Those who are seated at the right hand of the Father shall draw guidance

from Bishop Jacques Bossuet’s eloquent work (though not-so-eloquently titled) Politics Drawn from the Very Words of Holy Scripture Bossuet said that first government was divinely ordained so that humans could

live in an organized society And, of course, I shall be the leader of that organized society, in the Name of the

Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit… Since the Lord established kings and reigned through them over all the peoples

of the world, I receive my power directly from Him and my authority, like His is absolute

I am responsible to no one except God, INCLUDING PARLIAMENT My power is limited…by God, for He will hold me accountable for my actions

I Am Good King Louis! The XIV! Of France…

My dear father, Good King Louis XIII rose to the thrown when he ‘twas just a boy

Therefore, unable to competently lead, he leaned on his chief minister Cardinal Richelieu from 1624-1642

Richelieu strengthened the power of the monarchy by eliminating the political and military rights of the Huguenots while preserving their religious ones

This made the Huguenots more reliable subjects…however the nobility were not as easy to turn

Slowly, gently, Richelieu developed an efficient network of spies to uncover noble plots…

…he then crushed the conspiracies by executing the conspirators so there would be no threat to the crown…in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…

My Father, both on Earth as in Heaven, Came Before Thee…

Economically, things were differentRichelieu sent out royal officials called intendants to the

provinces to execute the orders of the central government…which didn’t sit well with provincial governors

Richelieu ruled with order but much of the country’s finances were corrupt

However, since so many people benefited from the government’s inefficiency and injustice, they felt strong opposition to potential reforms

The tallie (an annual direct tax levied on land or property) increased and crown lands were mortgaged again

Combine that with Richelieu’s foreign policy goal of confronting the growing power of the Habsburgs in the Thirty Years war led to a continued upward spiral of French debt

My Father, both on Earth as in Heaven, Came Before Thee…

I May Be Four, But I’m Fit to Rule! Richelieu died in 1642 My father, King Louis XIII, sadly died five months later I was anointed to the throne!...at the age of 4…seriously…none of you can

say that… Anne of Austria, the wife of the dead king, allowed Cardinal Mazarin to

dominate government Mazarin was Richelieu’s trained successor and attempted to continue his

policies until death in 1661 Mazarin, an Italian (meaning he was a foreigner) had united the French

people… …in their hatred of him The most noteworthy event of Mazarin’s rule was the Fronde

The nobles allied with members of the Parlement of Paris (the most important court of France) and the masses to oppose the new taxes levied by government to pay the costs of the Thirty Years’ War

The first Fronde (1648-1649) broke out in Paris and ended with compromise The second Fronde (1650-1652) was led by the nobles of the sword (ancestors

of medieval nobles) who wanted to overthrow Mazarin to secure their positions and increase their own power

The second Fronde was crushed by 1652, partially because the nobles started fighting each other instead of Mazarin

Mazarin continued to rule until his death in 1661…then it was my time!

At the ripe old age of 23, I run FranceUp to this moment I have been pleased to entrust the

government of my affairs to the late Cardinal. It is now time that I govern them myself. You will assist me with your counsels when I ask for them. I request and order you to seal no orders except by my command…I order you not to sign anything, not even a passport…without my command; to render account to me personally each day and to favor no one

In other words, I own all y’all!...in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit…

Have you ever seen what I created at Versailles? How majestic…

54 Years Baby! You Don’t Have to Like It but You Have to Learn to Love It!

Versailles (p. 457 of your text)

Both Versailles and my taste in monarchy are majestic I set the standard for monarchy and aristocracyWhere are your French jokes at now? I am THE SUN KING!...for I am the source of light for all of my

people! (or so I say…because many provinces had their own regionals courts, estates, and laws)

In fact, Voltaire named my whole reign as an Age…and historians agreed! How cool is that? The Age of Louis XIV…Majestic…

I built the royal court at Versailles then, within it, placed: My personal household The central governmental machinery The place where powerful subjects came to find favors ;-) Offices for the powerful subjects and their clients The aristocracy fought over power there

Majestic…

High princes tried to assert themselves as policy-making authorities…silly princes, Trix are for kids I stopped that by removing them from the royal council They got to be at my court, dealing with court life outside of politics…ha ha

ha ha haaaaaaa… I like my subservient ministers instead

“I had no intention of sharing my authority with them.” Ha ha ha ha haaaaaaa…

If I dominate then I rule all! I make foreign policy I make war and peace I say that secular power is stronger than any religious authority (in the

Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit…) I levy taxes I want it all.

I was close, but I didn’t get it all—all—all—all The nobles, officials, town councils, guilds, and representative Estates in

some provinces were too powerful for me to have direct control…so I bribed people to enact my policies

I did have considerable control over the parlements though (the provincial law courts that controlled economics and politics)…like I said I want it all—all—all—all…

I Rule All!…so don’t even think about it you dirty high nobles and princes…

The Protestants shall not practice their faith in Catholic France!

“One king, one law, one faith!” in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…

My Edict of Fontainebleau revoked the Edict of Nantes so I can destroy those dirty lil’ Huguenot churches and close Protestant schools

200,000 may have fled, but that’s fine because I got some English and Irish political and religious refugees back…some loved the one true God…and some could really drink so our tavern owners were happy (the last part is a not-very-funny joke…but you’ll laugh…or you’ll die)

Many of my loyal peasants wanted the Protestants gone, even destroying churches. I say, that is fine.

Beautiful Saviour…King of Creation…

God Bless Jean-Baptiste Colbert! He used mercantilism to increase our power and wealth despite the high

costs of Versailles He needed to regulate the economic activities to benefit the state He tried to expand the quantity and improve the quality of French

manufactured goods so we could export more and have to import less Look at all these luxurious industries and duties!

The royal tapestry works at Beauvais Venetian glassmaking businesses Flemish clothmakers Strict guidelines on regulating the quality of goods produced Training of workers I let him grant special privileges (including tax exemptions, loans, and

subsidies to those who established new industries) He improved communications and the transportation of goods internally He built roads and canals He raised tariffs on foreign manufactured goods, especially English and

Dutch cloth He created a merchant marine to allow the conveyance of French goods

God Bless Jean-Baptiste Colbert!

I am Rich! I Deserve My Riches!

I don’t careSome think they didn’tI don’t careThey worked for meFrench trading wasn’t competitive with the English

and Dutch? So what. I ruled well.The burden of taxes fell on the peasants? Well, my

grandson can deal with that one…ha ha ha ha haaaaa…

Some think that economic growth happened because of Colbert too…and I am one of those people…and isn’t that all that matters?

Did Colbert’s ideas work?

I did whatever I wanted, whenever I wantedMoney was no objectMy palace is my everlasting image…and I love every bit

of that realityI had no privacy; I needed no privacyI had it all—all—all—all…Everything was a ceremony for me…and nobles would

be the ones to do them…or else they would be shut out of obtaining offices, titles, and pensions that only I could grant. Ha ha ha ha haaaaaaa…

The best part of my ceremonies were the appartement; we all had much fun. Someone describe to me some of the fun

Wanna Know What My Life Was Like?

My secretary of war Francois-Michel Le Tellier was a beautiful man who had a 100,000 man standing army, ready to increase to 400,000 in time of war…which was often

1667-1668: I won a few towns in the Spanish Netherlands, though the Dutch’s Triple Alliance would be forever rued

1672-1678: I invade the United Provinces with some success, forcing an alliance between the Dutch, Spain, Brandenburg, and the Holy Roman Empire. I made peace for now…but only after gaining Franche-Comte from Spain

1689-1697: I occupied Strasbourg after annexing Alsace and Loraine which led to the League of Augsburg (Spain, Holy Roman Empire, United Provinces, Sweden, England) This may have been a mistake as my country fell into an economic depression

and famine and I had to give up man of my conquests throughout my empire (I did keep Strasbourg and part of Alsace)

1702-1713: The War of the Spanish Succession was about succession to the Spanish throne Charles II was sickly and childless and left the throne to a grandson of mine,

King Philip V Unfortunately, England, the United Provinces, Habsburg Austria, and German

states didn’t want a Bourbon king hegemony a fought us for eleven years The Peace of Utrecht (1713) and Peace of Ratstatt (1714) ended the war Philip was able to keep the throne, but it was officially established the Spain and

France remain separate

War! What is it good for? It’s Good for Me!

On my death bed at 76 years young I showed some remorse, telling my successor

“Soon you will be King of a great kingdom. I urge you not to forget your duty to God; remember that you owe everything to Him. Try to remain at peace with your neighbors. I loved war too much. Do not follow me in that or in overspending. Take advice in everything; try to find the best course and follow it. Lighten your people’s burden as soon as possible, and do what I have had the misfortune not to do myself.”

Though today, clearly was not a misfortune…

My Remorse